Page 71 of Soul of Thorns
“Not really,” I admit, staring up blankly at the hazy sky. Smoke plumes from the mount behind me. A volcano more than a mountain.That makes it so much better.
“You’re my hope,” my wraith whispers.
“For the Shadow Court? In death, that is still what matters most to you?”
“You are my redemption. If I can rebuild the court I helped to dismantle...” He pauses, gliding around my fallen body in a tight circle. “But also, I’ve come to realize that you are here because of me, child. I don’t know if you realize that. It’s my fault. It’s my blood in your veins that marked you as a target for these horrific beasts.” The pain in his voice is sharp. His smoke-like magic is continually restless, but he mimics me, lying down and staring up at the grey sky. There are no clouds to examine here. No changing skies. No birds in flight. There is only a sheet of smog, never changing other than to dim and brighten over a day’s time.
Still, the wraith lies beside me on the ashen ground, his magic rippling awkwardly as he does.
“There have been many with that same blood since your death.”
He nods. “There was a small manner of luck involved, yes.”
I shake my head. “No. They chose me for a reason. They saw the darkness inside. They saw my reckless ambition and used it against me.”
“You are a foolish child sometimes.” He tsks. “Ambition is not unique to you. And recklessness is simply a common adolescent trait. The things they took advantage of do not make you bad. You never desired to cause pain. I can see that in your eyes. In your soul. In your every action. You have fought for good. You have given all of yourself, much more than another fae would have given, to help those you care for. I admire you for this, Caelynn. If I’m honest, I think the Night Bringer failed by choosingyouas his tool. So many others would have been easier to manipulate. To trick. He underestimated you. And you are close, very close, to winning his game.”
“I’m also very close to losing it.”
“Yes,” he whispers. “Yes, you are close to that too.”
“It’s not over, though, is it? Even if I were to walk out of here alive... he’d come for me again.”
“He couldn’t,” the wraith breathes. “You ensured that with your bargain so long ago. You don’t fully understand how well you did that day, or perhaps, how badly he did. To those who know what you’ve done, you are a true hero. The Night Bringer tried to trick you. He wanted you as his eternal slave. It was the simplest way to achieve his ends. But he knew no bargain could convince you to willingly submit to slavery. And so, he presented a false bargain. It had to be real, of course, or else the result would be false. Magic cannot be fooled. Instead, he created a bargain he knew you would fail. He wanted you to kill the wrong fae, and when you did, he would use it against you. The bargain would have trapped you. That is why he gave you as beneficial of terms as he did. He never expected you to figure it out.”
My wraith sighs. “Refuse, maybe. Fail, possibly. Succeed in what you assumed was the right murder but was not, yes. Any of those results earned him exactly what he desired. But to kill Reahgan? To fulfill the true bargain? No. He did not think it possible you’d figure it out and succeed.”
“But I did,” I croak.
“And because of that, the Night Bringer cannot touch you now. You are in full control of his magic, and that gives you an advantage. His only way to manipulate you now is with your mate. The mate you saved. The mate you sacrificed so deeply for. He was right, that you’d throw anything away to save him. If you were to leave the Schorchedlands now, you could take back your throne and the Night Bringer couldn’t touch you because that was part of his bargain.”
I close my eyes and hold my breath. “But the scourge would continue to spread.”
“You could find another way to stop that silly plague.”
“Could we?”
“Certainly,” he says, voice high pitched.
But I am certain he doesn't believe it. Maybe we could. Maybe we couldn’t.“And if I were to have children?”
The wraith is silent, his magic continues to billow and ripple, but he does not speak. My children, and their children, will not be safe so long as the Night Bringer and Night Terror are living. That much is clear.I would have to choose to never have children or raise them in a different court where they would absorb a different elemental magic to free them of my curse.
“Why do they want Rev dead?” This is a question I hadn’t bothered to ask previously. Something about his magic, his fate, I don’t know. I should have asked. I should have clarified.
“He has the power to undo their curse. He has the power to heal what no one else can heal.”
I purse my lips. “Like the Scourge.”
That’s what this was always about, right? The plague. It feels almost small now in comparison to what I know the world will face if the Night Terror is freed.
“Indeed, Rev can put a stop to the scourge without the spell book.”
“And yet, you still want him dead.”
“I want you alive. He is of no consequence. In fact, if his survival didn’t cost yours, I’d prefer him alive. Contrary to what you think, I do not wish you unhappiness. But that is not the reality we have now.”
“And you hate me for choosing him over my homelands.”
